On the eastern side of the Ajlun mountains, Amman is a hilly city through which a small river, Wadi ‘Amman, once ran. Settlements have existed on the plateau since at least 3000 BCE. The Islamic history of the city begins when the city was taken by the forces of the general Yazīd ibn Abī Sufyān in 635, but it declined in importance, and by 1300 had nearly disappeared.

The Ottoman resettled the site with Circassian refugees from Russia in 1878, but I wasn’t until becoming the capital of Jordan after World War II that the city really began to grow.

Abu Samra House

This is a private house built for a young family. The main concept of the house emerged from the topography of the site: orientating it towards the primary views, and organising it into two clusters (one for private use and the other for entertaining friends). The house, with its blank, public facades, provides privacy from the street. However from the other side the facades open up to interact with the landscape and views. Exterior walls are covered with a waterproof earth tone pigmented plaster - a departure from common local stone. It was also one of the first houses to adopt sustainable strategies.